Alstom to supply first RRTS train to NCRTC in next three months

Vadodara, India (Urban Transport News): To meet the Rolling Stock delivery deadlines, Alstom has speed-up manufacturing of state-of-the-art RRTS trains coaches at Savli facility centre in Vadodara, Gujarat for India's first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor.

Last week, several officials from the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) visited Savli plant to gain insights into the progress of the project. Vinay Kumar Singh, MD, NCRTC & Mahendra Kumar, Director (Electrical & Rolling Stock) along with other officials expressed satisfaction with the progress as per the timelines. They also interacted with teams working at the plant & appreciated the committed efforts & the adherence to safety and quality protocols.

The delivery of these semi high-speed first of its kind aerodynamic trainsets, with distributed power, will start in the coming months. This year, NCRTC will begin trial runs on the Priority Section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor.

At the plant, the NCRTC team reviewed the entire gamut of the activities for manufacturing of 6-car prototype RRTS Train. All the 6 cars of the first trainset are in different stages of final assembly. He also visited the bogie manufacturing and shell erection facility of the factory. Factory officials explained about their preparation for testing of individual cars and complete trainset. Singh expressed satisfaction on the progress as all the key activities are progressing as per the scheduled timelines.

The team also visited the Propulsion factory at Maneja, where traction/auxiliary converters/inverters were in the process of manufacturing and testing. During the visit, Shri Singh interacted with the diverse teams working at the plant and closely took note of the processes and systems being followed. He appreciated the committed efforts of the teams at the plant and the adherence to safety and quality protocols.

The RRTS trains are designed keeping in mind the high-acceleration and high-deceleration that these trains will need to undergo given the operational speed of 160 kmph and stations at every 5-10 km. The RRTS trainsets will be the first of their kind in India with a design speed of 180 kmph. The manufacturing facility at Savli will be delivering a total of 210 cars (40 trainsets) for the first RRTS corridor. This includes 30 trainsets of 6 cars each for operating regional transit services on the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor and 10 trainsets of 3 cars each for local transit services in Meerut.

Keeping the convenience of commuters in mind, the modern RRTS trains will have ergonomically designed 2×2 transverse seating, comfortable standing space, luggage racks, CCTV cameras, laptop/mobile charging facility, dynamic route maps, auto control ambient lighting system and other amenities. The air-conditioned RRTS trains will have Standard as well as Premium class (one coach per train) along with one coach reserved for women passengers.

Along with supplying the NCRTC with 210 standard gauge aerodynamic lightweight coaches with 15 years of maintenance, Alstom’s scope of work also includes designing, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of Signalling & Train Control, Supervision, Platform Screen Doors and Telecommunication Systems for this 82.15 kms Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor.

The Delhi-Meerut RRTS line will be the first in India to adopt the European Train Control System (ETCS) hybrid Level 2 signalling system, which is the core signalling and train control component of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS).